Journey of a Lifetime
by silencia20
Summary: In the end, the decision wasn't made on that day or even the next one. But regardless, she made it, on account of every injustice that had been dealt to her during her short lifespan of 6 years. Naruto leapt over the village's wall and disappeared into the forest to start the journey that would lead her across the continent and change the fate of the nations. fem!Naru, slow updates
1. The beginning of a Journey

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

 **The beginning of a journey**

Uzumaki Naruto was a lonely girl. It wasn't something she liked to dwell on, she preferred being happy, and besides, she was gonna show them all. She was going to make everyone in the village of Konohagakure acknowledge her, believe it! She didn't yet know how, but she was only six, she had time to figure something out. Since she was already going to the Academy, becoming a famous ninja would be a good start. But she'd have to study…

Eh, she only had to pass the graduation exam. Who'd care about her grades when she was the most kickass kunoichi ever?

Hopping along the rooftops in the afternoon sun, she grinned to herself. It was a good plan. She'd study just enough to pass the exams and have fun the rest of the time, and when she got out of the Academy and showed everyone how awesome she was, they'd have no choice but to like her. She'd be famous and every one would want to be her friend. She'd never be lonely again.

Lost in daydreams, she arrived at her apartment. "I'm home, dattebayo!" she yelled at the top of her lungs as she entered. As usual, only silence greeted her and she smiled sadly, wistfully.

Her apartment was in one of the poorer parts of the village, at the top of an otherwise empty building. It wasn't a bad place, she could be as loud as she wanted. The space was small and rather dingy, but she'd lived in worse conditions at the orphanage, and she'd survived on the streets for two months after she was kicked out, until some masked guy had grabbed her and brought her to Old Man Hokage. She'd been scared to death, but he'd been nice and made her tea and they'd talked, and in the end he'd enrolled her into the Academy and given her the apartment. He didn't have much time for her, and she knew he was keeping things from her, like stuff about her parents, but she still liked him. He was one of three people who treated her like a real person, the others being the Old Man Ichiraku from the ramen stand and his daughter Ayame.

Speaking of ramen… her stomach growled.

"Alright!" she said to her stomach. "Let's go!"

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After her fifth bowl of ramen, she called it quits. She could have eaten more of the best food in the world, but the month was nearing its end which meant she was a little short on money, and besides, Old Man Ichiraku was always nice to her and gave her a discount, she didn't want to take advantage of his kindness. She hated not having enough money to pay him.

One day, when she was rich and famous, she'd pay him back.

"Everything alright, Naruto-chan?" he asked her with a kind smile.

Instantly, her mood brightened and she gave him a big grin. "Yep! Ramen are the best! And we learned about this 'chatra' stuff in the Academy today! I bet I'll learn all kinds of cool jutsu soon, dattebayo!"

The old man laughed. "That's great. I'm looking forward to hearing about it."

She nodded and slid off her stool, putting the money for her food on the table. "Thanks for the food! It was soooo yummy!" She beamed up at him.

He smiled at her and took the money, leaving a few bills. "You payed too much," he said kindly. "Go and buy yourself something nice."

She hesitated. She knew he wasn't taking enough to pay for her meal, she knew how to count. She should refuse.

But she really needed the money. She still needed to buy some food and one of her shirts got torn beyond saving so she needed a new one, and those things would cost a lot, if the guy at the store would even sell them to her. He didn't like her much. No one really did.

While she contemplated the problem, the flap of the ramen stand moved and a boy entered, his parents following behind. However, as soon as they saw her, they stopped short, only the boy climbing up on the a stool, grinning in anticipation.

Naruto clearly saw the coldness creep into the parents' eyes as they regarded her.

"Taiki, we're eating somewhere else," the woman snapped, glaring at her. Naruto flinched back.

"But I want ramen, Kaa-chan!" the kid protested.

"Listen to you mother!" the father ordered, grabbing the protesting boy's arm and dragging him away from the stand. Naruto stared after them, trembling.

It was all her fault.

"Naruto-chan, are you okay?" the old man asked.

She turned around and gave him a smile just a little too bright to be honest. "Of course! Heh, that was weird!"

"Are you sure you're alright?" he asked, and she almost started to cry when she saw the concern in his eyes, the warmth. But she'd given up on crying a long time ago. It never helped anything.

"I'm sure." She turned to leave. "See ya tomorrow, Jii-san!"

The money still lay on the table as she left.

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Out on the streets, she slowly trudged the way to her apartment. Usually, she ignored the cold looks and whispers that seemed to follow her wherever she went, but today, she felt like she needed to be punished for making the old man losing his customers and ruining that little boy's evening.

' _Monster',_ they hissed, each word slicing into her like ice cold needles. _'Demon!'_

She stopped walking in the middle of the street, clenching her fists, forcing the burning in her eyes to go away.

It wasn't fair.

She shook her head and leapt up onto the rooftops and away from the cold eyes and whispers.

There was a place she could always go to in moments like this, a place where no one ever judged her, where she felt at home more than anywhere else in the village save perhaps Ichiraku's. Coming to a stop on the Yondaime Hokage's head on the Hokage Monument, she sat down cross-legged staring at the expanse of houses beneath her. Watching the tiny people so far beneath her, all her troubles seemed so small. She took a deep breath and let them go for the moment.

Konoha was a beautiful place. She loved it.

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It was much later that she returned to her apartment. The streets were almost empty now, so she didn't mind walking along them. Lost in thought, her head jerked up when someone – a kid - ran past her and hastily knocked on the door of a nearby house. The door was instantly ripped open, a young woman looking out, warm light spilling out from the corridor behind her.

"Where have you been?!" the woman yelled. "I was worried sick about you!"

"I'm sorry, Kaa-chan, but-!"

The woman bent down and crushed the kid in a hug. "Don't do that again!" she whispered, then pulled the kid inside. The door slammed shut behind them and the warm light was gone.

Naruto had watched it all, frozen with longing. A part of her wanted nothing more than to run up there and join in with the family. The woman would hug her, too, scold her for being out so long and then make her wash up and sit her down at a set dinner table. She wouldn't get dessert since she'd made the woman worry, but it would be fine. She'd get sent to bed and be told goodnight and sweet dreams. She'd fall asleep and in the morning, she'd wake to the smell of breakfast.

Of course, it was all just a dream, far out of reach for her. She'd tried it before and all it did was get her shoved from doorsteps and doors slammed into her face.

This, too, wasn't fair. Why was she all alone? No one else was. Even at the orphanage, she'd been lonely while everyone else had friends. In a way, it had been better on the streets. She'd been hungry and dirty all the time, but at least she'd had an excuse for being alone.

She shook her head again, dragging her feet on her way to her apartment. She trudged up the stairs and moved along the corridor until she stood before her door. "I'm home," she called out. Silence answered her. There was never anyone waiting for her, no one to worry about her, no one to scold her for staying out late.

She kicked off her shoes and sat on her bed. She stared at her hands.

She shouldn't have to try so damn hard to make people love her.

It just wasn't fair.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

In the end, the decision wasn't made on that day or even the next one or the one after that. But regardless, she made it, on account of every injustice that had been dealt to her during her short lifespan of six years.

Shouldering the small backpack filled with her few belongings, Uzumaki Naruto leapt over the village's wall and disappeared into the forest looming behind it to begin the journey that would lead her across the continent and change the fate of the Elemental Nations.

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A/N: A new story! Yay! I hadn't exactly planned on publishing a new one while still writing Growing Strong, but this just came into my head and pretty much wrote itself. Updates for this won't be as frequent as they are for Growing Strong, though.

Please let me know what you think and if you want it to be continued!


	2. Blissfully ignorant

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

 **Blissfully ignorant**

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief as she finally left the forest behind. Well, technically, she was still in the forest, but she'd reached a narrow road and the fact that she didn't have to climb over gigantic roots and drag her feet out of muddy holes made all the difference. She'd only been walking for a few hours, almost blind in the darkness until the sun rose, and she was covered in mud and her clothes had green stains all over them. So often, she was tempted to just take to the trees and fly through the forest, but she'd heard somewhere that ninjas could sense that kind of stuff and she didn't want to risk getting dragged back. She was vaguely aware that people needed to have some sort of paper to leave the village, cause it was a ninja village and stuff, and she didn't have that paper so she'd get in trouble if she was caught.

Not that she thought anyone would care that much about her leaving, she doubted anyone would even notice that soon. Old Man Ichiraku would, after a while at least, of that she was sure. Old Man Hokage too, maybe. Regardless, she didn't want to go back, she wanted to see the world and meet new people and find a family, so no turning back.

"No turning back, dattebayo!" she yelled out loud and punched her fist in the air.

But it was nice to imagine that they actually wanted her back. Wistfully, she imagined being a princess – or even better, she had some amazing hidden power that everyone wanted, and she was running for her freedom, and every ninja in the village was chasing after her and trying to catch her, but she'd be smarter and cooler like a real shinobi, and she'd always stay ahead of them and not get caught. She giggled to herself.

"Alright!" she grinned cheerfully. "Let's go!"

She started running along the road. She wasn't the fastest in school, but she never really got tired. She could run an hour or two. And if her daydreams of ninja chasing her helped her run faster, well, that was a good thing, right?

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

Back in Konoha, teams of ANBU were dispatched. Most of them started scouring the village, a scant few scouted the roads in and out of Konoha. Only one of them, lead by ANBU Dog, a shinobi with gravity defying silver hair who wore a dog mask, thought to search in the forest. The other members of his squad were doubtful of this plan, because what kind of child ran into a forest at night? Besides, this part of the forest wasn't even anywhere near any of the village's exits. It wasn't like some little girl had the skill necessary to get over the patrolled village walls unnoticed. And no one had that much dumb luck.

But they chose not to say anything in the face of the grim determination ANBU Dog exhibited.

And they were glad they hadn't when they found Uzumaki Naruto's trail in the forest.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

The road got boring after an hour, or at least she thought it was an hour. She kind of forgot to pack a watch, but it wasn't like she had had any plans besides 'Go-on-an-adventure-and-find-a-family' to begin with, so it didn't really matter. It wasn't like anyone was waiting for her anyways.

She had all the time in the world.

Naruto perked up when she heard water close by. She ran a few steps and reached a small bridge over a merrily burbling creek. Grinning, she crossed the bridge and then jumped down to a rock that sat in the middle of the creek. Squatting, she quickly splashed water into her face and washed off the worst of the grime. Then a mischievous grin lit her features and she jumped in fully, clothes and all, because who'd tell her to not do it? She could do whatever she wanted. She could even leave the boring road and follow the creek into the forest. It had to lead somewhere, right?

Grinning, she kicked her sandals off and put them into her backpack. Then she started walking again, her feet splashing through the water. It felt nice on her feet, even if it was a little more exhausting.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

A mere ten minutes later, a group of three masked shinobi, led by a man with a dog-mask and gravity-defying silver hair, stopped by the bridge. ANBU Dog sniffed the air.

Naruto's scent had been getting harder to follow, becoming one with the forest more and more, and on the firm road it had been hard to find her light footsteps. Here, her scent was hardly noticeable anymore. But his keen eyes saw the small clumps of caked mud Naruto had left when she crossed the bridge.

With a flick of his fingers, he signaled the direction they'd take to the team. With a blur, they sped forward, following the road.

Naruto would soon be found and brought back to the village.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

After a while, the creek broadened into a stream and then evolved into a small river. Naruto put her shoes back on to walk along the riverside. Not following the road had been a good decision. The scenery was pretty, plus she always had something to drink.

She dropped to sit on a rabbit shaped rock and pulled out a chocolate bar from her pack. She didn't get to eat chocolate much, but this was a special occasion – her first time out of the village! And successfully outrunning ninja pursuers, even if they were only imagined! Naruto was sure that this was the exact kind of situation that Ayame-neechan had given her the chocolate bar for. Now if only she had some ramen… She had a few cups in her backpack, along with her few clothes, a bag of potato chips and another chocolate bar. Then she had a bit of rope, her cute sleeping hat that was a gift from Ayame, too – it had eyes and ears, dattebayo –an old switchblade she'd found, a book about ninja stuff, wrapped in plastic bags in case water got into her backpack, and a few forks. She had no way to get kunai, so those would have to be her weapons. And she had a pot that she could cook water in that she could pour into her ramen cups, and then, agonizing three minutes later, she'd have the best meal on the face of the earth, save for the original Ichiraku ramen. Nothing in the world could beat that.

She sighed, a bit somberly. She'd really miss Old Man Ichiraku. But he was better off without her around. Because of her, people disliked him too.

She'd miss Old Man Hokage, too, but not as much. She hadn't known him long, she'd only met him a few times when he came over to give her her allowance and when he'd treat her to dinner. Old Man Ichiraku on the other hand had become a fixture in her life. The first time she'd met him was when she'd still been living in the orphanage. He'd sent Ayame-neechan – someone else she'd miss dearly – out to give her a bowl of noodles after she'd stared hungrily at the ramen stand for an hour, lured there by the delicious scents, but unable to pay. She'd been coaxed to sit at the bar a few days later. It had been so new to her, being _invited_ and _offered_ to eat.

Later, when she'd been kicked out of the orphanage for good and nowhere to go, she'd come there often, too, but only if she'd found somewhere to clean the dirt of the streets off of herself. Ichiraku's was special to her, she couldn't go there all dirty. What she lived off the rest of the time… well, she preferred not to think about it.

It astounded her what people sometimes deemed as inedible and threw away.

She'd gone to Ichiraku's more often after she'd been given her apartment. She'd been a small, thin, spindly thing back then, a few months ago. Now she was still thin and small, but not that spindly anymore, she'd become rather… wiry. She had a lot more energy, too.

Speaking of energy, she had to get moving, or else her imaginary pursuers would find her, and that she'd have to think up a daring-escape-daydream, and she'd rather keep dreaming of staying ahead of her enemies, be they in her head or not.

She started walking again, her imagination already spinning new scenarios. Maybe, it wouldn't just be her village's ninja following her to bring her amazing hidden power back into the village, maybe some evil folks were after her, too, and they'd start fighting over her and throw fire bombs at each other and shuriken and do clones and stuff, and while they fought, she'd make a daring escape.

She giggled to herself.

Her mind came up with the strangest things sometimes.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

ANBU Dog's team was travelling back the way they came – there had been no trace of Naruto and the only explanation was that she'd gone into the forest at some point. Dog had even brought his dogs out, but so far, they'd found nothing.

Suddenly, a five-man squad of ANBU appeared in the trees to their right. They wore the standard ANBU uniform and masks, but Dog recognized none of their chakras, and the way they held themselves tipped him off that something wasn't quite right.

They were Danzo's people, he realized. Members of Root.

"Have you found any lead on the jinchuuriki?" One of the new arrivals asked in a stilted, mechanical tone.

Dog shook his head curtly in the negative.

"We will be joining you as you track the jinchuuriki," the Root member said.

Behind his mask, Dog narrowed his eyes. "You may take Bull and Bisuke to aid you in tracking _Uzumaki Naruto,_ " he stated, waving at two of his dogs.

"Our orders are to join your squad and track the jinchuuriki."

 _And deliver her to Danzo, I bet._

"The Hokage's orders were for the teams to spread out and search for her. One large team is inefficient," he stated coldly.

"Our orders were clear," the Root shinobi said.

"And who gave them to you?" Kakashi asked, abandoning his Dog persona. "You won't touch Uzumaki Naruto."

The Root member instantly blew a fireball at Kakashi, and chaos ensued as the two teams battled each other.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

It was nearing evening and Naruto had been hiking along the river for a few hours now. She'd found an apple tree and the sweet fruits had been her lunch and would be her dinner and next breakfast, too, as she had packed as many as she could into her backpack. Whistling, she skipped forward, barely tired. The forest was nice, the weather was warm, birds chirped and no one had glared at her all day.

Her eyes followed a particularly interesting looking butterfly, and then suddenly her foot caught on something. "Aaah-mmpfh!" she cried as her face hit the dirt. Scowling, she sat up and inspected what she'd tripped over. Her face lit up.

It was a boat. Well, not really a boat, more like half of a hollowed out tree, but who cared about the details? She grinned and set to dragging the piece of wood to the river, then she jumped in and used a stick to push the makeshift-boat all in. At first, it only moved sluggishly, but then it started to pick up speed. She laughed happily as she held her face in the wind.

 _This,_ she mused, _is what freedom is like._

Smiling, she pulled out another apple and started munching on it. When she was done eating, she leaned back, using her backpack as a pillow and stared up at the passing green canopy. The hours of travel catching up with her, she was slowly lulled to sleep by the sounds and rocking of the river.

Naruto woke up when something hit her vehicle. Groaning, she sat up, rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and looked around blearily. Unfortunately, it was night already, so she couldn't see anything in the darkness. In the distance, she heard a loud roaring sound that came nearer rapidly. Waves hit her boat and she grabbed the sides in an attempt to steady it, not that it helped. She attempted to stand up so she could jump out, but the makeshift boat was jostled again and she fell back on her backside with a cry of surprise. The dull roaring sound was now so close, it was deafening. She could feel her boat accelerate. A thought hit her and she hastily strapped her backpack on her back lest she lose it.

Suddenly, she felt the boat _move_ – it was tipping over, it was falling, and she was still inside, _oh no, help, please, anyone!_ "Ahhhhhhhh!" she screamed in terror as she plunged down the waterfall. Then there was an impact and _pain, pain, pain_ and all went black.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

The river carried the unconscious Naruto further and further, out of the forest and through fields, under bridges and past small villages. The sun rose and made its way across the sky until it sank again. Naruto did not wake and it was only by chance that she did not drown.

And it was only by chance that she was always hidden underwater every time a shinobi searched for the missing jinchuuriki near the river.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

Something was tickling the back of her mind, a sort of urge to _get up stand move wake UP!_ and Naruto shot up, gasping. She hardly had any time to take in her surroundings – some sort of beach she had washed up on – before she bent over and started coughing up water. Her stomach contracted painfully and then expelled everything that she had eaten prior to falling, not that it had been much. Whimpering, she felt around for her backpack and was glad when she found it still strapped to her back, although one of the straps had snapped. She ripped the whole pack off her back and dumped all its contents out. Ravenous, she grabbed an apple, then another and after that she devoured the remaining chocolate bar. It made her tummy hurt to eat all that so fast, but at least it filled her up.

She inspected the rest of her belongings. The book had actually survived, surprisingly enough. Her ramen, however, had not. They'd gotten all soggy with river water and looked awful.

"Damn it!" Naruto yelled. "Stupid river!" she kicked at the water. Scowling, she got up on her feet. She was wet, she was cold, she fell down a waterfall and worst of all, her ramen were gone. She wanted to go home.

But there was a part of her, the part that always told her not to give up and to keep smiling, that simply refused. She couldn't give up after just a day. She shook her head vehemently. "No! No going back!" she growled out, determination shining from her eyes.

Besides, she didn't know the way back. She didn't even know where she was.

But what did she have to return to anyways? An empty apartment and a ramen stand. The latter was actually tempting, but it wasn't enough. She'd set out to find her very own family, and as much as she loved the Ichirakus, they weren't family. No one would be waiting for Naruto to come home.

It wasn't like the village was in an uproar over her disappearance.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

The village was in an uproar. Or rather, the ones that knew what had happened were in an uproar – the information had been classified. Uzumaki Naruto, container of the nine-tailed demon fox, had been missing for over two days. The Sandaime Hokage had called a group of hand-picked ninja of Tokubetsu Jounin rank and up together.

"Uzumaki Naruto must be found," he said. "If she fell into enemy hands, it could prove disastrous for the village. It could even bring about war. Your mission is to track her and bring her back by any means possible."

He relayed further instructions for the ninja and handed out mission scrolls. Finally he sent them to a group of shinobi from the Torture & Interrogation unit that had been tasked with analyzing and dissecting Naruto's personality and mindset.

When they had left, he let out a weary sigh. He was too old for this job. To think he had failed Minato-kun so gravely… all it had taken was one inattentive ANBU guard and now Naruto-chan was out there all alone and unprotected. He didn't dare imagine the things that could happen to her…

He looked up when someone entered. He already knew who it was for few dared to walk into the Hokage's Office uninvited.

"Danzo," he greeted his old friend and rival cordially. "I received the most peculiar mission report from Kakashi-kun. He claims your shinobi attacked his squad. Due to injuries, the team could not continue the mission."

"Hiruzen," The other returned much less cordially. "The jinchuuriki must be found and trained properly. It is obvious the village has been much too lenient with her. She is out of control."

"Danzo. Your Root soldiers attacked my shinobi and they were out of the village on an unsanctioned mission." Hiruzen said, a steely undertone in his voice. "It is not Naruto-chan that I worry about being out of control."

"Hiruzen," Danzo gritted out, his one eye narrowed. "Everything I do, I do in the village's best interest. The jinchuuriki must be retrieved at all costs, that is why I sent out my soldiers to assist yours. As for them attacking Kakashi's squad, they will be interrogated and dealt with."

"They are dead," Hiruzen informed Danzo. "They used self-destruction seals when their capture was imminent."

"A pity." Danzo said impassively.

"You will call your shinobi back, Danzo," Hiruzen ordered.

"Of course," Danzo answered. "By your leave, Hokage-sama." The man turned around and left the room.

Hiruzen sighed again. How he longed to order Danzo to disband Root… but they were necessary for the village's protection now more than ever with the Uchiha's growing dissent and Naruto's running away. And Danzo did only have Konoha's best interests in mind.

But he would be keeping a much closer eye on his old friend.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

Naruto stayed at the small beach for a few hours to let her clothes and backpack dry in the sun. But now she was eager to get moving again.

There was just one thing bothering her. Her hair that normally hung to her back in a fun mess of golden-blond spikes had gotten hopelessly matted in the river, with branches and algae knotted into it. She'd tried to wash it in the river and comb it with her fingers since she forgot to pack a hairbrush, but it was no use.

"It's just in the way anyways," she said to herself, if only to break the unnerving silence. In Konoha, there was always noise somewhere, but here only the water's rushing was audible. She grinned and pulled out her switchblade. "Here goes! Sorry, hair!"

 _Chop._ A blond lock fell to the ground. _Chop._ And another. She felt a sting of sadness, but she shoved it away.

 _Chop, chop, chop._

When she was done, she ran her hand over her chopped hair – it felt spiky and uneven, but sort of soft, too. The breeze on her neck was nice, too.

"I bet I look like a boy now, dattebayo." She grinned. "Heh, no more hair-pulling!"

She got up on her feet and stored the switchblade away. Then she grabbed her backpack. "Alright! Uzumaki Naruto, setting out!"

Her journey had only just begun.


	3. Cartwheels and Knives

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

 **Cartwheels and knives**

Naruto happily walked along a road she had come across a few hours after she'd left the stupid river behind. She'd just eaten the last of her apples, the sun was shining, the birds were chirping and she had a road to follow which would lead her to a village which meant ramen. All in all, she was in a great mood.

Sure, she'd like some company, the silence was wearing on her, but whatever.

She stopped when her road split in two. Signs with arrows pointing in the respective directions would have told Naruto where they lead had she been able to read. There'd been lessons at the orphanage, but she rarely got to listen. Besides, she could hardly sit still even during interesting lessons, for the rest she often didn't even bother showing up. And learning to read was definitely not interesting.

As a result, she couldn't read beyond the simplest of sentences much less decipher the names of places she'd never heard of.

"Eh, who cares!" she grinned. She studied the roads and then took the one to her left – there were some noodle-shaped clouds in that direction which she took as a good omen. "Ramen, here I come, dattebayo!"

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In the afternoon, she eventually reached a small rural town whose name she once again couldn't decipher, but it didn't matter to her because it had houses and houses had people in them and she hadn't seen or talked people in _forever_.

Naturally, the first thing she did was look for a ramen stand. Unfortunately, it seemed there wasn't any ramen to have in the _entire_ town. But that was impossible, how could all these people live without ramen? She just needed to look harder. Maybe ask someone. It would make sense for them to keep their ramen secret from outsiders. They must be really good ramen.

Frowning, she looked around for an old man to ask, because two of the three people that treated her nice had been old men, therefore old men had a lesser chance of glaring and yelling at her for approaching them. If it didn't work, she'd find an eleven year old girl like Ayame-neechan to ask.

She was contemplating this when she heard bells and jingles and a group of people came from a side street. Naruto stared. They didn't look like anyone she had ever seen before, and she grew up in a ninja village where there were plenty of weird people. There were women in flowing dresses, two identical girls in colourful skintight suits and bells attached to their wrists. A man walked on stilts, juggling a dozen balls at the same time. Another led a bear on a chain behind him.

Naruto's mouth dropped as the two girls ran forward to do a series of synchronised cartwheels and twirling jumps. The women danced around, balancing twirling plates on thin sticks. "Visit the Great Saburo Circus!" the man on stilts yelled. "The best circus in all of Fire Country!" He threw all the balls into the air. "Hair raising performances! Lions and tigers! Clowns and mimes! The best acrobats and the most daring artists!" The balls came down and he caught them all without missing a beat. In his hands, they became a whirl of color, forming wheels, fountains and spirals, never ending. "Tonight only!"

The group of performers continued down the street, never stopping their dancing, juggling and advertising.

And Naruto knew what she was going to do.

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It was early evening when Naruto reached the area the circus occupied. She'd cleaned herself up in a stream earlier and put on some fairly clean clothes. She wanted to make a good impression after all.

The area was fenced in and the gate closed. Frowning, Naruto stood before it, wondering where everyone was.

"You're too early. The performance won't start for another four hours," a voice said from behind her. Naruto yelped and whirled around.

The speaker had been a man with dark skin and shaggy white hair. He wore loose black pants and a black shirt. Strapped over his shoulders were two belts filled with knives.

Naruto pointed at him. "Don't sneak up on people!" she yelled indignantly. "And I wanna join the circus, dattebayo!"

The man blinked once, slowly. "This isn't the place for you," he said lazily. "Go home, kid."

"Don't have one. Who are you, anyways?" she demanded, glaring at the stranger suspiciously.

The man sighed deeply. "How dull. I'll take you to the director. He can deal with you."

He blinked once again as Naruto's entire demeanor changed to a bright, happy smile. "Really? Thank you! I'm Naruto! What's your name?"

"…Follow me," he muttered and turned away. They walked away from the front gate and around the fence. Her eyes widened. So everyone was _behind_ the big circus tent! And there was so much to see! There were people _walking on their hands._ Cages with animals. Jugglers. Everyone was busy, shouting and running around with half-done make-up and funny hair-dos. No one paid them any attention.

"So what do you do? Something with knives? 'Cause you have lotsa knives!" Naruto grinned up at the man that was actually helping _her_.

"You talk a lot," the man said.

"Eheheheh." Naruto grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of her head. Then her head snapped up. "Ooh, is that a lion?" she darted forward to look into a cage, but her guide grabbed her by the scruff of her neck.

"Don't run off, kid," he said. "And it's a tiger."

"Ehehe." Naruto laughed again and beamed up at him again. "Sorry 'bout that."

"Don't do it again." He let her go, turned and started walking again. Naruto scrambled to follow him, smiling like a loon at the word 'again'.

"So what's your name?" she asked again.

"We're here," her new friend – and how awesome was that, she'd made a friend this soon! – walked up to a large wagon. It was red and there was something written on it in large script, but Naruto once again couldn't read it. Her companion knocked on the door.

"Come in!" a booming loud voice shouted and they entered.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

The man waiting for them in the wagon was large, larger than anyone Naruto had ever seen before, and he had lots of muscles. She figured he must be the Great Saburo. There was a woman there, too, with long black hair and white face-paint. Both looked at her friend, then their gazes turned to her. Naruto swallowed nervously and gave them a smile. The woman seemed to soften, but the man gave her a cold look that made her flinch inwardly.

She had never gotten used to being glared at.

"Tadao," he said with a loud, booming voice, turning away from her. "What's that?" he jerked his head at her and she bristled.

"I wanna join the circus!" she said loudly. The man turned his head and glared at her.

"You think I'm just gonna take in some boy? If I did that every time some kid wanted to join, I'd have a kindergarten! Go back to where you came from, runt!" the man boomed.

Naruto opened her mouth to yell at him because he was a big meanie just like everyone in Konoha and she was a girl, thank you very much, but her friend – Tadao – spoke up calmly. "His name is Haru. He doesn't have a home anymore. I thought he could help around here, Saburo-sama."

Huh, Haru? She'd told him her name was Naruto! And she was a girl, dammit!

The man bristled and looked ready to blow up, but the woman spoke up. "Oh, you poor thing!" she said. "Saburo-sama, we can always use a helping hand! He could help me with my costumes-"

"You want to join?" the man interrupted her, his eyes drilling into Naruto's, not even bothering to acknowledge the woman. A malicious smile graced his rough face. "I have a job for you. You can be Tadao's assistant."

"Really? Thanks!" Naruto smiled. Success! She got to join the circus and she got to help her friend! It was perfect! Maybe the guy wasn't so bad after all. "That's awesome, dattebayo!"

"Now, hold on-" Tadao spoke up.

"But!" Saburo interrupted. "You have to prove you can do it first, runt!"

"Yatta!" Naruto yelled and punched her fist in the air." Then she paused. "How do I do that?"

"Oh, it's easy." The man smirked, but his eyes stayed cold. "All you have to do is stand over there," he pointed at a wall. "And stand still while Tadao throws knives at you."

"Saburo-sama, that's-" the woman spoke up, looking angry.

"Silence!" Saburo shouted. The woman shut up. "I make the rules here! The runt wants to join, he'll do this! Of course…" he grinned triumphantly at Naruto. "You don't have to. You can always leave."

"I'm not scared!" Naruto yelled. "I'm gonna join, you just wait!"

"Well, then…" the man gestured to the wall. "Prove it!"

Naruto gulped. She looked up at Tadao who shook his head at her. "Go back to the city, kid."

She almost listened. Almost. But she was Uzumaki Naruto, and she had nothing to go back to and she _wanted_ this, she wanted to stay with Tadao who was her friend.

"I won't go back on my word," she said and walked over to the wall. She gave Tadao a trembling smile. "All I have to do is stand here, right?"

"That's right!" Saburo crowed. "No moving, no flinching, keep smiling!"

She nodded and looked up at Tadao. Taking a deep breath, she focused on his face. The corners of her mouth lifted into a smile almost by themselves.

He was her friend and he wouldn't hurt her.

"Well, Tadao?" The circus director boomed. "You brought him here, you take care of this!"

The man sighed deeply and stepped in front of her. "I'm not going to hurt you, kid," he said. The woman wrung her hands behind him.

She smiled at him brightly which seemed to take him aback. "I know!"

Tadao sighed again. Then he pulled a knife out of his knife-belt. And too fast for Naruto to comprehend, there was a _thunk_ and an impact next to her ear, and she felt cold metal touching her skin. Her eyes widened and she started to tremble, but another knife slammed into the wood on the other side of her head and she didn't dare move a muscle.

 _Thunk. Thunk. Thunk._

In rapid succession, knifes slammed into the wood around her, near her neck, over her head, between her fingers, framing her body. All she could do was keep staring at Tadao's concentrated face as he pulled knife after knife and sent it at her.

Finally, he let his hands sink. "I believe Haru passes."

Saburo huffed. "Now, see here-!"

"Enough!" the woman yelled, cutting the circus director off. "You gave your word! The child stays!"

"Fine!" he hissed. He turned to Tadao. "You take care of him! He stays in your wagon, and he works for his stay! He causes trouble, it falls back on you, you got that?! And if he ruins tonight's performance…" he said threateningly.

"Understood," Tadao said stoically. He walked up to Naruto who hadn't moved an inch. "Breathe, kid," he murmured as he started pulling his knives out of the wood. Naruto gasped and drew air in hastily, trembling in belated shock.

"And now get out of my office!" Saburo yelled.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

Naruto was still trembling when she followed Tadao out of the wagon, the woman behind her.

"Haru-kun, are you alright?" she asked.

Naruto forced a grin. "Of course, Neechan!" she said with a thumbs-up.

The woman looked doubtful, but let it go. "Come with me, I'll get you some clothes." She looked at Tadao. "I'll bring him to you in an hour."

The man nodded and left them without another word.

"I'm Tomoe," the woman introduced herself as she lead Naruto to another wagon. "Contortionist and seamstress."

"Con- conto- what?" Naruto asked, scrunching up her face in confusion.

The woman laughed. "Contortionist. It means I'm extremely flexible. You'll see soon."

They entered the wagon. It was fairly big, but a third of the space of taken up by laid out costumes and fabrics. Other than that, there was a cupboard and a shelf, some pillows to sit on and an empty space. "Why's that empty?" Naruto asked curiously.

"For training. My two daughters and I train while we travel."

"Daughters?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Twins. Both of them are acrobats."

"That's so cool!" Naruto said, grinning. "D'you think I can learn, too?"

Tomoe smiled at her. "I can give you a few lessons. Now, are you going to tell me why you're pretending to be a boy?"

Naruto winced. "I'm not! I mean, I wanted to tell, honest, but-"

Tomoe laughed. "Relax. I get it. You should keep your gender to yourself, or you'll be kicked out."

"They'd do that?" Naruto asked wide-eyed.

"Saburo-sama doesn't like you. He doesn't like anyone. And he especially dislikes Tadao, since he only joined us a bit over a month ago and is one of our most popular acts." Tomoe sighed. "Now, we need to get you a costume." She gave Naruto a critical look. Naruto sat up straighter. "And some regular clothes, too, yours are a mess."

Naruto grinned at her. "Thanks, Tomoe-neechan!"

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

An hour later, Naruto was decked out all in black. She'd hoped for orange, but Tomoe had been adamant that knife-thrower's assistants did _not_ wear orange. They did not wear colours, period. Hence, black clothes. Depressing. Everyone else had colours on.

"Here we are." Tomoe said, stopping in front of a black wagon. "Tadao's wagon. You'll be staying here."

Naruto grinned. She had a place to sleep and new friends, Tomoe had even given her something to eat and she'd joined a circus. It was _awesome._

Even if she had to pretend to be a boy and everyone thought she was named Haru. What was up with that, anyways?

Tomoe knocked on the door and Tadao opened. "Tomoe," he greeted.

"I brought Haru-kun!" Tomoe said cheerfully. "Doesn't he look great?"

Tadao looked at Naruto. "…Sure," he answered unenthusiastically.

"I _told_ you orange would have been better," Naruto said to Tomoe.

"Black is fine," Tadao said hastily. "Come in, kid."

"See you later, Tomoe-neechan!" Naruto called out to Tomoe and skipped into the wagon.

"Later, Haru-kun," Tomoe answered and left.

The inside of the wagon was pretty much empty except for a table, two chairs and a futon. On the walls hung well-used targets.

On the table lay a multitude of knives of all sizes. "Come here," Tadao said and waved her over.

"Are those all yours?" Naruto asked. "Can you throw all of them? Are you going to teach me how? Since I'm your assistant, you know."

Tadao gave her an impassive look. "We'll see."

"Hey, why'd ya tell them my name was Haru? 'Cause I'm Naruto and not Haru, dattebayo," Naruto asked curiously. She wasn't actually mad about the whole thing, it was just weird.

"No one takes anyone with the name of Naruto seriously," Tadao said.

"Hey!" Naruto's temper flared. Her name had been the subject of many a joke, and she only tolerated those when it was Old Man Ichiraku or Ayame-neechan who made them. "It's not ramen-topping-Naruto, it's maelstrom-Naruto!"

"And now it's Haru," Tadao said. "Now come here, we need to talk about the performance."

Naruto's anger evaporated and she skipped forward, looking at the weapons with glowing eyes. They didn't look like the kunai the senseis had shown her class at the Academy, these knives were curved and elegant and they came in all sizes, from ones that were barely longer than her fingers to ones that were the length of her entire arm. She listened as Tadao explained to her what she'd be doing during the performances besides stand before a wooden wall and not move while knives were being thrown at her: she'd have to hand him his knives, set up and clear away targets, throw stuff in the air so he could hit it with his knives and for the grand finale she'd be having the knives thrown at her.

Outside of the performances, she'd be helping him maintain the weapons and help around the circus.

"Are you gonna teach me knife-throwing?" Naruto asked again. "'Cause that would be so cool, dattebayo!"

Tadao gave her a look. "We'll see."

Naruto grinned at him. Her first friend outside the village, and she had the coolest job ever in the best circus in Fire Country, even if the director was a mean bastard, and she got to learn to throw cool looking knives without ever having to go to the boring Academy. So awesome! It would be even more perfect if she could find some ramen, but you couldn't have everything. She figured she'd find some in the next city they stopped.

Circus life was going to rule!

Or so she thought.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

The performance was the best thing ever, Naruto decided. First she got to see people and animals do awesome things, and then she got to stand in the arena herself with her friend, and all those people watched _her,_ gasping in delight and fear as Tadao nearly skewered her. They worried for _her._ Marveled over her fearlessness as she just stood there smiling while knifes whizzed past her so closely she could feel them.

But why should she be scared? Tadao hadn't hit her the first time, so why should he now?

Friends didn't hurt each other.

After the performance, she followed Tadao around while he helped with cleaning up. She wanted to help, but he'd ordered her to stay out of the way. He hadn't told her to be quiet though.

"And then those girls were like, _whoosh,_ and _zshooom,_ and did you see the tigers jump through the burning ring?"

"Lions," Tadao said.

"And that guy juggled like twenty balls! Do you think I can learn that? Oh wait, I'm gonna learn acrobatics from Tomoe-neechan first, and you're gonna teach me knife-throwing, so I'll probably be busy with that, but still, I wanna learn. Hey, do you think I'd make a good clown?"

"Undoubtedly."

"Cool! But I like being your assistant better. Hey, do you like ramen?" Naruto bounced up and down as she talked excitedly.

"…Sure."

"I like Miso Ramen best, but I like all kinds of ramen. We should totally eat some together, dattebayo! Hey, did you see Tomoe climb out of that suitcase?" Naruto grinned.

Tadao sighed.

It was much later that everything was cleaned up and they returned to their wagon. Naruto was a little tired now, so when Tadao gestured to the futon and told her to go to sleep, she didn't hesitate to put on her sleeping hat and get under the covers.

"G'night," she mumbled.

"Good night, kid," Tadao answered.

Naruto drifted off to sleep, but then she heard something. Opening her eyes a little, she squinted. Then she sat up, all tiredness gone.

"What're you doing?" she asked curiously.

Tadao was on the ground, doing one-armed push-ups faster than Naruto had ever been able to do normal ones.

He turned his head to her. "Sleep, kid," he said.

"Nu-uh." Naruto protested and crawled out of bed. "Are you training? Do you wanna to be a muscle-man like Saburo? Can I train with you?"

Tadao sighed. "If you want to, I'm not going to stop you."

"Awesome, dattebayo!"

It never occurred to Naruto that a normal civilian shouldn't have been able to do three-hundred one-armed push-ups in the short time Tadao did them.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

They had to get up at dawn the next morning – they'd be spending the day traveling. The circus was a hive of activity, horses and oxen were put to the wagons, people were shouting, animals growled and paced in their cages and Naruto felt a little lost as she followed Tadao to get breakfast and after that was left in front of Tomoe's wagon while Tadao 'took care of some things'.

"Haru-chan!" Tomoe said as she opened the wagon door. "Come in!"

"Hi, Tomoe-neechan!" Naruto greeted as she skipped in. There were two girls inside, about twelve years old and looking identical. Both had Tomoe's black hair and both were in the middle of the room doing impossible stretches. When they saw Naruto, they jumped up gracefully.

"Who's this?" the one on the right asked, her brown eyes gleaming.

"I'm Nar- Haru. My name's Haru, dattebayo," Naruto said.

"Oh, you're _adorable!_ " the other one exclaimed, clapping her hands. Naruto inched a step back. "How old are you?"

"Six," Naruto answered.

"Aww. So small… " number one said.

"Are you new? What do you do?"

"Now, you two, where are your manners?" Tomoe scolded. "Haru-chan, these are my daughters, Miya and Maya. Dears, Haru-chan joined yesterday. He's Tadao-san's assistant."

"Oooh, Tadao is so dreamy…" one of the girls – Maya – sighed. Naruto was going to have so much trouble telling them apart. For now, she tried to remember that Miya smelled a little more flowery than Maya.

"You two, why don't you show Haru-chan how you train?" Tomoe asked hastily.

The girls' faces brightened. "Do you want to be an acrobat?" Miya asked.

Naruto grinned. "I think it would be really cool!"

"Okay, we'll start with stretching…"

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

Naruto took to circus life with astounding ease. Over the course of a week, she made several more friends, like Rei the mime and Minoru the juggler whose friendship resulted in juggling lessons - by the end of the week, she was able to juggle four balls – Minoru had said she was a quick study with nimble hands.

No one had ever told her she was good at anything before.

She spent a lot of time training with Tomoe and her daughters. They taught her how to cartwheel and do a handstand, and Tomoe and the girls praised her for learning quickly, too. It felt amazing to get praised, even if Naruto knew that her success wasn't because of hard work, it was because she was weird. She could jump rooftops like she was flying, she'd seen some kids do it in Konoha and tried to copy them, and it had worked. But she had gotten scolded for it and soon after kicked out of the orphanage. In the Academy, some others in her class had been able to do it, like that bastard Sasuke who was so annoying and arrogant, and they had gotten praised, but she only got glares.

Here though, no one else could do it and she wouldn't show them because they wouldn't praise her anymore. They'd hate her, just like all the people in Konoha. And then she'd be kicked out because Saburo-teme was only looking for an excuse to get rid of her. And she wanted to stay, stay with Tadao who was her friend and awesome and really strong, she bet he was stronger than Saburo-teme who was a muscle-man and could lift really heavy stuff. Tadao did exercises with her and he was teaching her knife-throwing, though she was really bad at hitting the target. She practiced hard, though.

During the day, the circus traveled, but evenings, when they set up camp, there was always something to do. Animals had to be fed, they had to be walked and trained, the artists had to train, food had to be cooked, things to be carried. Living at the circus was hard work but Naruto loved it. Hardly anyone glared at her here, excluding Saburo-teme of course.

After a week, they arrived in the town of Ichiba Gai and Saburo decided they were staying there for a few days.

"Tadao, d'ya wanna get ramen with me later?" Naruto asked as she stormed into the wagon they shared. Then she blinked. It was empty. "Tadao?" she called.

She shrugged. He was probably just helping setting things up. If she went looking, she'd find him. The circus was big, but not _that_ big.

But no matter where she looked, she couldn't find him anywhere. And Saburo-teme had said that they weren't allowed to go into the city until everything was set up.

Maybe she just hadn't looked right.

In the end, she went into the city with Minoru and the twins.

Tadao was back the next day, and Naruto was sure she was the only one who had noticed how long he'd been gone. When she asked, he gave her a blank look and told her he'd been helping around the big circus tent and they must have just missed each other.

It confused Naruto because she'd looked everywhere, but it wasn't like her friend would lie to her, so she shrugged and let it go.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

A harsh knock sounded on their wagon door two days into their stay at Ichiba Gai. Without waiting for an answer, the Great Saburo Bastard stormed in. "Where's the runt?" he demanded with his loud, booming voice.

"My name's Haru!" Naruto answered just as loudly, but less booming.

She'd gotten used to the name. And in the circus, it was almost like she was another person, anyways.

"What is it, Saburo-sama?" Tadao said calmly, stepping up and resting his hand on Naruto's head. She calmed herself a little.

"Taiki has run off," Saburo said curtly. His lips pulled themselves into a smarmy smile as his eyes rested on Naruto. "I need someone small as the new human cannonball."

"No," Tadao said, and Naruto felt his hand tightening on Naruto's head. "Absolutely not."

"Now, see here!" Saburo bellowed. "Everyone has to pull their weight, and I took the runt in out of the kindness of my heart-" Tadao snorted, but Saburo ranted on. "-and he hardly does anything! The least he could-"

"He's six!" Tadao thundered, and suddenly the director went pale, sweating and trembling while Tadao looked fearsome like a warrior god. "Find someone else!"

Naruto looked at him wide-eyed. Tadao was usually nice, even if he didn't say much. He was easygoing and helped people. He never got mad. But right now, he was looking really angry and scary.

Saburo straightened. He was still pale, but his fear seemed to be gone now. "I make the rules here!" he growled. "I give you work in _my_ circus, and if you don't follow my rules, you can leave!"

"I'll do it!" Naruto yelled. No way was Tadao leaving because of her. "It's the thing where I climb in that thing and then I'm shot into a net, right?"

Saburo grinned. "Yes. It's not dangerous at all, boy."

"Bullshit," Tadao said. "Kid, don't do it." He looked down at Naruto.

"I said I'd do it, and I don't go back on my word, dattebayo!" Naruto stomped her foot.

"Well, now that that's settled… " Saburo strutted out of the wagon. "Don't forget to get a helmet and suit!"

Naruto didn't bother answering. She was trying to avoid Tadao's glare. Finally he sighed. "Kid, that wasn't necessary."

"Was, too!" Naruto returned. "He'd have kicked you out! And me too, dattebayo!"

Tadao sighed again, then he turned around and left the wagon with long strides. Naruto scrambled after him. "Are you mad at me?" she asked, suddenly scared that he'd hate her now.

Tadao stopped and looked at her. His glare softened. "Not at you, kid. Come on."

He turned and walked on, slower this time. Slightly reassured, Naruto followed him in silence.

They entered the large circus tent. Everywhere, people were setting up things. Tadao walked up to two men who were in a deep discussion, behind them the enormous cannon. Naruto gulped when she saw it.

This evening, she'd be climbing in there.

"I want to see the calculations," Tadao ordered the two men in a tone that made them scramble to obey instantly. Naruto stared at Tadao in surprise again.

Then she stared some more, because Tadao was discussing with the men about numbers and weight and distances with words that just made her head spin.

First he scared Saburo-teme, then he ordered people around like it was normal, and then he was suddenly all smart. It was like she'd never seen him before.

And he did it all for her.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

Tadao stood next to her near the cannon that evening as the next act was announced. There was supposed to be a practice run, but then there had been a problem with the lions and they didn't have time after dealing with that.

She was feeling cold and she was trembling. Tadao rested his hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Naruto," he murmured, and at the mention of her real name her head snapped up. "I'll catch you if it goes wrong."

"How?" she whispered. "I'll be across the arena."

"Don't worry," he repeated.

She stared into his eyes. Slowly, she nodded. Then she jumped forward and wrapped her arms around Tadao. He stiffened in surprise. "Thanks!" she whispered.

"Haru, you need to get up there," someone said, and Tadao pushed her away, grabbed her and lifted her on the cannon.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen!" Saburo boomed. "Over the entire length of this arena, over this cage filled with bloodthirsty lions, a person will now fly! Behold! The fearless, the amazing… Human Cannonbaaaallll!"

A spotlight fell on Naruto as roaring applause surged. She'd wanted to smile and wave, but the light was blinding and she was scared to death. It was only because of Tadao's words that she wasn't frozen with fear.

There was the mechanic sound of cranks being turned and then the muzzle of the cannon was pulled upwards until it was at the proper height. Naruto gulped and started to climb up. At the tip, she heard Saburo say something but could barely hear anything over the rushing sound in her ears. In the distance – so, so far away – she saw the net she was going to land in.

Trembling, she crouched down and slid feet first into the muzzle.

It was too cramped inside. She couldn't have moved if she wanted to. And she was starting to panic, she hated being trapped and this was a trap and she was going to die…

" _I'll catch you if something goes wrong,"_ Tadao's words from before echoed in her head, and she clung to them like a lifeline.

"Flight preparations complete!" Saburo's dramatic voice sounded weird from inside the cannon. "And three! Two! One! Goooooo!"

"Aiiiiiiieeeehhhhhh!" Naruto screamed as she was shot into the air, and then she was flying, over Saburo-teme, over the lions, and it was _wonderful._ With a whooshing sound, she landed softly in the net, laughing.

Beneath her, next to one of the posts the net was fastened to, Tadao stood with a relieved expression on his face.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

They resumed travelling at the end of the week. Naruto was happy to be back on the road even if it meant she wouldn't get to fly again. She continued to train with Maya and Miya in acrobatics, she added two balls to her juggling, she managed to hit the bullseye with a knife, causing her to break into her happy dance. Of course, the next throw went completely wonky, but still, she'd done it. Tadao even smiled.

When she joined him for training late at night, he showed how to move in a fight, how and where to punch and kick. It wasn't like the endless katas in the Academy, it was more direct and harder. Sometimes she wondered if she'd still be the worst at sparring if she ever went back, not that she ever would.

Naruto was happy at the Great Saburo Circus. The name Haru had started to feel as familiar as her own name in the two months she'd been there. Hardly anyone glared at her; instead, they praised her. She had friends and the circus felt more like a home than Konoha ever had, with the exception of Ichiraku's and her space on the Yondaime Hokage's head.

The only thing that annoyed her was that whenever they reached a new town, Tadao would just vanish for hours on end, because she really wanted to go eat ramen with him. And whenever she asked where he'd been, he'd lie to her.

"But not today, dattebayo!" she growled to herself as she ran through the camp they were setting up just outside a city named Tanzaku Gai. She ran up to their wagon and threw open the door. Tadao turned around with a mildly surprised expression. "You!" she yelled angrily and pointed at him. "You are coming to eat ramen with me!"

"Sorry, can't," Tadao said lazily. "Have to help out setting up the tent. So dull…" he sighed.

"You're lying!" Naruto yelled. "Y'always do this when we get to a new place! Stop it!"

Tadao's expression hardened. "Naruto, stop."

Naruto glared at him. "No! You're my friend, and friends eat ramen together and they don't lie to each other, dattebayo!"

"It's none of your business!" he growled and glared at her. Naruto flinched back as a sudden wave of fear crashed over her. She gasped for breath as he walked past her and left the wagon.

"It's because you don't like me, isn't it?" she softly asked after him, her eyes burning with unshed tears that she wouldn't let fall. Tadao stopped and turned back around.

"Kid, don't-" he started, but stopped when he saw her face. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Just today, okay?"

"Huh?" she asked.

"Ramen."

The smile Naruto gave him was so bright it rivalled the sun.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

Tanzaku Gai was a busy town. There were people everywhere, bustling about. On the streets, men tried to convince people to enter their shops. Others tried to sell their wares. It was noisy and Naruto didn't like it too much.

"Hey mister, how about coming in for a little game?" a weird smelling man with bad teeth stepped in their way.

"No thanks," Tadao said and pulled Naruto with him.

"What kind of game did he mean?" Naruto asked with a confused frown.

"Not the kind you should play. You can lose a lot of money doing that."

"Huh?" Naruto asked.

"Three things can be any man's downfall: Alcohol, women and money," Tadao said.

Naruto blinked. "I don't get it."

Her friend chuckled. "You're a little too young for that, anyways."

"I'm six!" Naruto yelled indignantly. "And- ramen!"

She took off towards the ramen stand she'd spotted. "Miso Ramen, please!" she ordered, bouncing happily. It had been _so_ long.

"You really like ramen, huh?" Tadao mused as he entered after her.

"Ramen's the best, dattebayo!" Naruto grinned at him.

He chuckled and shook his head. "Never a dull moment with you, huh?"

"You say 'dull' a lot, dattebayo," Naruto commented.

"You say 'dattebayo' a lot," he returned.

Naruto started and then laughed. "That's true, dattebayo."

Tadao placed his order and they started eating.

"So what happened to your family?" Tadao asked finally.

Naruto looked down at her bowl. "I'm an orphan. I dunno who they were. The Old Man wouldn't tell me about them."

"Old Man?"

She shrugged. "He said they were his friends and he was going to watch out for me," she sighed.

"So why did you leave?" Tadao inquired.

Naruto smiled at him. "I didn't want to be lonely anymore, dattebayo. What about you? Why'd you become a knife-thrower?"

"A dull story for another day. Are you finished?"

"What? No! That was just the first bowl!"

Tadao sighed deeply.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

An hour later, Naruto stood outside the ramen stand while Tadao paid for their meal. Suddenly, she heard someone cry out in fear from an alley. Her head snapped into the direction and the rest of her body followed. She took off down the alley.

She stopped short when she saw the scene. A maybe five year-old boy was cowering away from a large dog.

She didn't even think about it as she picked up a stone and threw it at the dog. "Leave him alone!" she yelled loudly. The dog jumped around to growl at her. Naruto threw herself to the side just as the dog jumped forward, but then, out of nowhere, Tadao was there and the large dog went flying against a wall.

Slowly, Naruto got to her feet, shaking with adrenaline.

Tadao was frowning at her. "Are you alright? Why did you run off?"

"I heard someone scream…" she said. "Hey! Are you alright?" she asked the boy who was still cowering.

He stared at her with wide eyes and nodded. "T-thanks," he whispered with a lisp.

Naruto smiled at him. "What's your name? I'm Haru."

"Akira."

"It's getting late," Tadao said. "We need to get back. The show will be starting soon."

"Dammit!" Naruto answered. "See ya, Akira!"

A part of her was confused about how Tadao had shown up out of nowhere, but she probably just hadn't noticed him, what with being so focused on the dog.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

It had been five days since the circus had arrived in Tanzaku Gai. Naruto had spent them training and exploring the city with Minoru and the twins. They'd been advertising for the show, too, the twins walking on their hands or flipping and cartwheeling through the streets while Minoru and Naruto juggled. Today, though, she and Tomoe had visited the enormous castle that according to Tomoe was really famous.

It was on their way back that they were intercepted.

"Hey, you're, uhh... A- Ao- ?" Naruto recognised the boy from the alley.

He was fidgeting. "Akira. Uhm, I just saw you and I, uhh, t-thought I'd tell you…"

"What is it, dear?" Tomoe asked with her friendly, soothing voice. "Don't be nervous."

"Uhm, there were some weird people asking around today. Like, ninja. And they had a picture of your friend," Akira said nervously.

"Ninja?" Tomoe asked worriedly. "Haru-chan, what friend- Haru-chan?!"

But Naruto had already taken off.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

She ran through the camp, heart pounding hard. She didn't know exactly why Akira's warning had scared her so much, but she knew in her gut that she had to warn her friend. "Tadao!" she yelled as she burst into their wagon. "Tadao!"

He wasn't there. "Damn it!" she cursed, stomping her foot. She bent over, out of breath.

"Kid? What are you doing?" a faintly amused voice asked from behind her. Naruto whirled around, and whatever amusement had been on Tadao's face vanished when he saw her expression. "What happened?" he asked.

"Ninja in town. Asking 'bout you," Naruto gasped out. She looked up. His expression had become hard and scary. "Tadao? What's going on? What do they want?"

He shook his head sharply. Then he entered the wagon and grabbed her backpack.

"Hey!" Naruto protested. "That's mine!"

"Quiet!" he snapped at her.

She stared up at him in shock. "What's going on?" she whispered, backing away from him.

"No time to explain," he said tensely. He was suddenly in front of her. A moment later, he'd grabbed her and thrown her over his shoulders.

"Wha-" Naruto squeaked out, and then with a _whoosh,_ the world spun around them. When it stopped, they weren't in the wagon anymore. "W-what?" Naruto asked, but then Tadao started to run, too fast, way too fast, much faster than she had ever been able to. "You're a shinobi!" she gasped out.

"Quiet," he ordered.

"No!" she yelled.

He stopped and set her down. She stared up at him with quivering lips. "You've been lying to me this whole time!" she shouted, feeling betrayed. "I thought we were friends."

He knelt down and placed his hands on her trembling shoulders. "Naruto," he said. "You need to be quiet. They're looking for me, and they'll interrogate the people at the circus and especially you. We need to leave."

She shook her head wildly. "Why?!"

"Look, now is not the time-"

"Yeah, it is!" she yelled back. "If you don't tell me, I'm gonna scream! And you lied to me the whole time! Were we even friends?"

"It's true that words can be used as tools, to lie and deceive. But when it really counts…" he pointed to his heart. "-they're also the only way to tell the truth about how you feel right here. We _are_ friends, Naruto."

She stared at him, quivering. "Who're you really?"

"I'm a ninja from Kumogakure and my mission was to spy on Fire Country. I used the circus as a cover. Konoha must have figured it out."

Konoha. Naruto's eyes widened. Everyone back there knew her face. She'd be dragged back for sure.

"Are you going to be quiet now?"

She nodded. He grabbed her and put her on his back. "Hold on," he ordered. She did as ordered and then they were running.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

She startled awake when Tadao suddenly stopped. For the last few hours, she'd been drifting off in a sort of half-sleep. "Wha-" she started, but he quickly covered her mouth with his hand. "We're being pursued," he murmured. Her eyes widened.

He darted to the right and leapt up into the trees silently, flying from branch to branch with barely a sound. From time to time, he'd stop and tilt his head as if listening for something. Then he'd switch directions or backtrack for a little.

Finally he came to a stop on a branch over a fairly large creek. "I'm sorry, kid," he said. "I wanted to take you with me."

"W-what?" Naruto's eye widened. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He sighed. "You're slowing me down. They'll catch up soon."

She shook her head wildly, tears beginning to fill her eyes. "Don't leave me behind, please!"

"I'm sorry," he said. He knelt down and placed his hands on her shoulders. Naruto's eyes were swimming in tears as she looked up at him. "Walk in that creek. It'll lead you to a road that you can follow. You should use a different name, too, at least for a while. They'll follow me, so you should be safe."

"I wanna go with you!" she sobbed. "Please take me with you!"

"Here," he said and handed her her backpack. "I've put some food and money inside, and knives as well. Don't forget to train, kid."

She shook her head. The tears were now dripping down her face. "No!"

"Naruto."

She looked up at him helplessly. He stared at her intensely.

"If you ever come to Kumogakure, ask for Darui."

She stared up at him.

"Do you understand?" he shook her slightly. She nodded, dazed. "Who are you going to ask for?"

"Darui," she whispered.

He nodded. "Take care, kid."

"You too," she whispered.

Then he was gone. Naruto stood there for a moment, feeling completely helpless. She couldn't go back to the circus.

Alone again. She felt cold.

"No going back," she whispered, echoing her words from long ago. She looked down at the streaming water below her branch. She jumped down and landed with a splash.

Then she started walking.


	4. Turning Point

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

 **Turning Point**

Naruto didn't stop walking and, from time to time, running in the creek the entire night, even though her legs were going numb with cold. After a while, she stopped trying to dry her tears and just let them drip down her face.

She hurt. It was a cold, dull pain inside her chest, and with every _thump_ of her heart, she was reminded of it.

 _Why, why, why?_ she thought. _Why did you leave me behind?_

The loneliness now hurt so much worse than it did in Konoha. Now she knew what her life could be like, filled with laughter and warmth. What it s _hould_ be like.

She reached a road in the early morning, just as the sun started to rise. Like Tadao had promised. Or Darui. Whatever his name was.

"Left or right…" Naruto murmured, just to say something. She hadn't had any silence for over a month. She didn't like the change. "Which way is Kumogakure?"

Of course, there was no sign pointing in the direction, and even if there had been, she wouldn't have been able to read it. The road looked the absolute same in both directions.

"Where do I go…" she asked.

A gust of wind blew from the right, gently pushing at her. Naruto released a long breath and forced a smile. Maybe, if she acted happy, she'd start to feel happy too.

"Left it is!"

She followed the road for three more days, through forests, fields and across rivers. Physically, she didn't become exhausted, but emotionally… she wasn't made for solitude. She wanted, no, she _needed_ company and noise. And she missed her friends at the circus terribly. If she knew the way, she would have gone back to them, even though Saburo-teme would probably have kicked her out. Naruto wished she'd at least told everyone goodbye.

Someday. Someday she'd see them again. Tadao/Darui, too. He was the first friend she'd made outside of the village. She'd find that Kumogakure place he mentioned and everything would be fine. All she had to do was keep moving forwards. Step by step by step, one foot in front of the other.

It was around noon that she finally found some company. On a nearby field, an old man was loading hay onto a cart. She frowned as she looked at him. Was he doing this all alone, in the hot sun? Just as she thought this, the old man suddenly slumped and fell into a stack of hay. Worried, Naruto ran over.

"Oi, old man!" she yelled. "Are ya alright?"

He didn't answer and when she reached him, she saw that he was pale, his eyes closed and he was sweating a lot. Naruto frowned and decided that him sweating meant that he must be hot, so she dragged him to the trees at the edge of the field where there were some shadows. Then she got out her water canteen and started to feed water to the unconscious man. His eyes fluttered open after a few sips. When he saw her, he suddenly shot up.

"What happened? Who are you?" he asked.

Naruto blinked at his sudden questions. "I'm Na-" she started, but wait, no, she was supposed to change her name! Tadao had said so! Kuso, what was a good name? "Uhh - I mean I'm- my name is – uhm – Menma!" Argh, what was she thinking? Menma was such an uncool name. Dammit, why hadn't she thought of some cool name beforehand?

The old man gave her a weird look. "Right," he said. "Menma-kun. What happened?"

"You fell over. Was it because of the sun? 'Cause you were sweating a lot and that means you were hot so I thought since the sun is so hot today – did you forget to drink or something? 'Cause you got better when I got ya some water," Naruto rambled. "Here, you gotta have some more, old man!" She held out her canteen to the old man.

He blinked at her and took the bottle. "Thank you, boy."

Naruto beamed at him, barely noticing that he called her a boy – after her time at the circus, she was used to it. "No problem. But you really gotta be more careful, dattebayo!"

The old man's weathered face suddenly crinkled into a smile. "I s'ppose I should. Sorry to trouble ya, Menma-kun."

"Ehh, no biggie. I was getting lonely anyway," Naruto shrugged, grinning. "D'you need some help?"

He gave her another weird look and took in her appearance. "Are ya travelin' alone? How old are you?"

"Yep, and I'm six, dattebayo!"

"That's awfully young to be travelin' alone. Tell you what, boy, help me out with the hay and I'll give ya a ride to my farm and a nice warm meal."

Naruto's face broke into a big smile. "That's awesome! Thanks, old man!"

"Name's Hiro."

The work went quickly – Naruto was strong for her age. After they were done loading hay onto the cart, they sat down on it. A command from Hiro and the ox at the front of the cart started pulling. Both Hiro and Naruto were exhausted from the day's work so they didn't talk much until they arrived at a small farm. Naruto followed old man Hiro into the house. Curiously, she looked around. She'd never really been in a real house, only her small apartment in Konoha, the Hokage Tower, the Academy and some restaurants. At the circus, there were no houses.

It smelled good, she decided. The scent of food – she didn't know what it was – permeated the air, and under that, she smelled the scents of Old Man Hiro and someone else. The furniture was made of wood, on the walls hung pictures of kanji, beautifully drawn. Naruto wished she could read what they said.

"Bunko!" Hiro yelled. "I'm home!"

A woman appeared in a doorway. She was old and wrinkly but still held herself straight and moved gracefully. "Welcome back," she said and smiled. Then her gaze fell on Naruto. "Who's this?"

"That's Menma. Helped me out with the hay. Promised him a meal," Hiro explained gruffly.

"Oh, forgot to tell ya, I'm a girl," Naruto said. The old man's eyes widened.

"A girl? Are ya tellin' me I made a little _girl_ work the whole day?!" he yelled.

"Yeah, so?" Naruto asked, tilting her head in confusion at his reaction.

The old woman named Bunko interrupted them with a light laugh. "Well, thank you for your help, Menma-chan. I hope you'll like curry?"

"Never eaten it," Naruto admitted. "But it smells great, dattebayo!"

The woman laughed again. "Your first time eating curry, oh my! Ah, where are my manners? My name is Bunko. I'm this fool's," she pointed at Hiro. "Wife." Bunko gave her husband a gentle smile that he returned. "Wash up, you two. I'll have dinner ready when you're done!"

Dinner was delicious. It wasn't ramen, but Naruto decided that curry might be a close second.

"Thanks for the meal, it was awesome," she said and beamed at Bunko.

"Oh, it was nothing." The old woman waved her off. "So tell me, where are you traveling to? Are you visiting family?"

"Ahh…" Naruto fidgeted under Bunko keen eyes. "I don't have family. I'm just… looking for a place to stay?"

The woman nodded. "Then why don't you stay with us for a bit?"

Naruto's mouth dropped open. So did Hiro's. "Bunko!" he exclaimed. "You can't just- you know about-"

"R-really?" Naruto's unusually timid voice interrupted him. Her eyes were suspiciously shiny as she looked at Bunko. "I can really stay?"

Bunko gave her a warm smile. "Of course. You can help me with gardening and cooking and all those things. You were a big help today, too, weren't you?"

Slowly, a radiant smile spread over Naruto's face. "T-thank you," she choked out.

No one had ever really _wanted_ her. She'd always had to fight for her place in the world. And now these two kind people were _asking her_ to stay? It seemed too good to be true.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

Naruto stayed with Bunko and Hiro for two months. Life at their small farm was completely different from life at the circus and yet she enjoyed it almost as much. She often helped Bunko growing vegetables in the gardens. Hiro didn't take her out to work in the fields again, but he showed her how to care for the animals. It wasn't Naruto's favourite activity as the pigs and sheep didn't smell very good, but she did like spending time with Hiro.

One evening, she was helping Bunko in preparing dinner.

"Ne, Bunko-baa?" she asked timidly.

"Yes, Menma-chan?" the old woman asked kindly.

"The words in your pictures, what do they say?"

Bunko started. "Menma-chan, you can't read?" she asked.

Naruto fidgeted and looked away. "Only a little."

A hand on her shoulder made her look up at the woman's kind smile. "What do you say, I teach you reading and writing, and then you can read my calligraphies by yourself?"

Naruto's face brightened. "Really? You'd really do that? Thanks, Bunko-baa!"

True to her word, Bunko gave Naruto lessons in reading and writing from then on. But it wasn't just writing she taught her, oh no. Bunko was quite proud of her calligraphies.

"Calli – what?" Naruto asked with a confused frown, tilting her head.

"Calligraphy. It is the design and execution of lettering with a brush, the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious and skillful manner."

All Naruto understood was that calli-whatsit had something to do with brushes, but she didn't want to look stupid by asking.

"Now, watch carefully," Bunko told her. With the grace of long years of practice, she grabbed a brush, her fingers wrapping around it in an uncomfortable looking grip, and dipped it into a little ink bottle. Under Naruto's wide-eyed gaze, she drew a kanji with flowing motions.

"Whoa, that was awesome, dattebayo!" Naruto exclaimed. "Can I try?"

"Can you tell me what it says?" Bunko asked her, smiling faintly at her enthusiasm.

"Uhm…" Naruto scrunched her face up in concentration, eyes focused on the symbol in front of her. _Come on, you know that, Naruto!_ she told herself. "Uhh… it says… 'Good Luck'!" she exclaimed. "It says 'Good Luck', dattebayo!" A proud grin formed on her face. Bunko smiled, too.

"That is correct," she told Naruto who beamed at the praise. "I suppose you can try, too." Bunko handed Naruto the brush and when Naruto grabbed it, adjusted her fingers so she'd hold it correctly.

"That's uncomfy!" Naruto whined.

"That is the way it is done," Bunko admonished. "Now try."

Naruto's bit her lip and furrowed her brows in deep concentration as she carefully dipped the brush into the ink and set it on the paper. She felt horribly clumsy imitating Bunko's graceful motions, but she was rather pleased with the end result. Anxiously, she looked up at her teacher.

"That was, for a first try, quite adequate," Bunko said, looking mildly surprised.

"Ade-what?" Naruto asked, giving her a blank look. Bunko sighed.

"Adequate. It means that your performance was satisfactory."

"Sati-what?"

Another sigh. "You did well."

Naruto brightened. "Right? I'm gonna be the best call-whatsit-person ever! Why didn't you just tell me that, Bunko-baa?"

"It's about nuances of the things we say," Bunko explained.

"Nua-what?"

Bunko sighed deeply and moved on to the next lecture.

Aside from reading, writing, and calligraphy, the old woman also tried to teach Naruto other skills, such as sewing, knitting, and cooking, but the only thing that stuck with Naruto was, surprisingly, knitting. Bunko also attempted to teach Naruto about etiquette and manners, but well, those lectures… in one ear, out the other.

All in all, it was nice. She really liked the two farmers. They were great people, always friendly (though Hiro could be grumpy at times) and welcoming. Life with them was peaceful. And yet… Naruto felt so guilty for thinking it that she didn't even dare finish the thought in her head, but sometimes, her life here was a little… boring. She missed the adventures and constant challenges at the circus. Even in Konoha she'd had more excitement.

She felt horrible for feeling that way and threw herself into farmer's life with a passion. Maybe she just wasn't trying hard enough. After all, she had nothing to complain about, there were delicious, warm meals on the table every day, she was welcomed and appreciated, and when she walked into the house and called out, Bunko always answered.

Still, Naruto was getting restless. At nights, she'd sneak out and do the stretches and exercises she had learned at the circus and practice the moves Tadao - no wait, Darui was his name - had shown her. As soon as it was bright enough, she would take out her throwing knives and practice her aim. It wasn't enough to calm her down, however. She felt like there was just something _missing_.

But she stubbornly refused to acknowledge the feeling. Naruto liked it at the farm, she liked the calm life, and if it didn't feel quite right then she just had to try harder, dammit.

It was almost a relief when one evening, Bunko and Hiro sat her down to tell her that they were moving. She immediately felt bad for the notion, especially once they told her the reason.

"You may have noticed," Bunko said. "That Hiro sometimes isn't feeling well."

Naruto thought back to the way she'd met the old man and nodded.

"Pah!" Hiro spat. "Nonsense! I've never been sick my entire life!"

Bunko ignored him. "We've decided that we will give up the farm and move to my sister in Konohagakure." Naruto stiffened at the mention of her former home. Though, could she really call it a home? No, she thought, she couldn't. The circus, that had been home. This farm, even, had been home. Konoha hadn't earned the right to be called by that title.

"Right as rain, I am!" Hiro prattled on. "Ain't givin' up the farm, no way!"

"We could take you with us, if you want," Bunko offered. "We would have to settle some issues with paperwork to get you a pass, but I'm sure it would be fine."

"Eh, don't worry!" Naruto gave her a bright smile. "I wanna travel the world and meet lotsa people, dattebayo!"

"But you're so young," Bunko protested. "Surely you can wait a bit to travel the world."

Naruto grinned at her, something in her chest warming at seeing how Bunko wanted her to stay with them. And if they'd been going anywhere but Konoha, she'd have taken the offer."I'm gonna be fine, Bunko-baa!"

"Eh, let the girl have her adventure, Bunko," Hiro grumbled. "Bet we're gonna see her again soon enough."

Naruto smiled at him. "You two are the nicest people ever and I'm really happy you took me in," she said. "Thank you so much!"

"We enjoyed having you very much," Bunko said, swallowing. "If you're sure you want to leave… but know you're always welcome with us, Menma-chan."

Naruto suddenly had a lump in her throat and couldn't get an answer out. But she was pretty sure that her tearful smile said enough.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

As a result, a week later found Naruto on the road again, equipped with food, money, a map and comfy open-toed boots that Hiro swore were perfect for hiking. She'd been fine with her sandals, but she did like the boots even more, mainly because they were given to her as a gift. With a spring in her step, she walked down the road, her destination being the neighboring town that Naruto was hopeful would have ramen. She hadn't had ramen in two months. It was a sad state of affairs.

It didn't take her long to reach the town of Setsugo, only a few hours. She arrived just in time for a late lunch.

 _Ramenramenramen,_ she thought as she searched the streets with single-minded focus. It didn't take her long until the familiar smell of noodles reached her nose and minutes later, she was sitting at a ramen stand, happily slurping her noodles.

"My, my," the vendor said. "That's quite a healthy appetite you have there."

Naruto looked up long enough from her bowl to give him a big grin, but then she returned her attention to her food. The man chuckled and let her be, though his eyebrows rose quite high when she asked for a second bowl, a third bowl and a fourth bowl after that.

"Man, that was great, dattebayo," Naruto finally sighed, happily rubbing her filled stomach. She gave the vendor another big smile. "Thanks, it was delicious!"

"That's the first time I've seen such a small person put away so much food," the man said in a friendly voice, giving her a smile.

Naruto nodded seriously. "It only works with ramen, too. Hey, do you know where Kumogakure is?" She hadn't found it on her map and she forgot to ask Bunko-baa and Old Man Hiro.

The vendor was startled. "Kumogakure? The ninja village?"

"Uhh, is it?" Naruto frowned.

"I think so…" the man frowned, too. "In Lightning Country, I think. Quite far away from here."

Naruto slumped in dejection. According to her map, she was closer to River Country. Lightning wasn't even on her map. "Oh," she said. "How do I get there?"

"Well, you could travel with a merchant's caravan," she was told. "But as far as I know, the only one that leaves this week is going to somewhere in River."

River Country. It probably had a lot of rivers. Naruto's whole experience with rivers was restricted to the rivers running through Konoha, three of which she'd managed to fall into, and the river with the waterfall when she'd run away, which she'd also fallen into.

"It's a beautiful country," the man boasted. "I was born and raised there. Lots of nature, friendly people, great food."

"Ramen, too?" Naruto asked. Great food equaled ramen in her mind.

"In every city!" the ramen vendor nodded. Great food apparently equaled ramen in his mind, too. Naruto liked this man.

Well, that sounded promising, friendly people and ramen. No Tadao/Darui, but it wasn't like they'd set up a fixed date, Naruto had decided by herself that she'd go find him which meant he wasn't waiting for her. So it was all good.

"Hey, where can I find this caravan?" she asked.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

She found the man who was organizing everything in an inn named 'The Inn'. Naruto scrunched up her face. What was the point in all those reading lessons if people only wrote boring stuff? Really, 'The Inn'? Who named an inn 'The Inn'? If Naruto found out who came up with that completely lame name, she'd have words with them, believe it.

"Sure, you can come with us," the man responsible for the caravan said. His name was Atsushi. He was a tall man with blue hair – blue hair! Naruto now wanted blue hair – and intelligent brown eyes.

Naruto beamed at him. "Thanks!"

Atsushi frowned. "But you pull your own weight and you work for it."

She nodded, still grinning. She was going to River Country! "Got it, Ossan! I can help with animals and stuff, I worked at a farm before!"

The man nodded. "Good. We'll be leaving in two days at sunrise. If you're late, we won't be waiting for you."

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

For the two days Naruto had to wait for the caravan to set out, she did not stay at The Inn. Oh, she was sure it was a fine establishment, but that name just wouldn't stop bugging her.

Instead, she got a room at The Hotel.

…there was an error in her reasoning _somewhere,_ but she couldn't put her finger on it.

Anyway, she spent those two days exploring the city and the surrounding area, much like she'd done when traveling with the circus, only she was by herself while exploring. The reminder of her being lonely again made her sad. Luckily, she'd hopefully find nice company while traveling, and according to the ramen man, the people in River Country were friendly so she'd find friends there.

And ramen. In every city.

And she'd be leaving her home country. A milestone in her life!

Naruto was so excited that she didn't sleep at all the night before the caravan was due to leave. Instead, she spent the night bouncing on her bed, building a pillow fort, and trying to knit a scarf (she was bouncing on the bed at the same time, so that didn't work out so well). She just had _so much_ energy.

Needless to say, she got to the meeting point two hours early. Thankfully, the merchants were already gathering, and Atsushi quickly put Naruto to work, sending her to find people, relay messages, help harnessing the ox and horses. Naruto tried to strike up conversations, but everyone was too busy to talk and brushed her off.

Well, maybe later, when they were on the road and everyone was less busy, she'd get some attention.

The day passed. Naruto was sent all over the place to deliver messages, food, and other items, but she was never actually spoken to. She didn't exist to the rich merchants as a person, only as an errand boy. It reminded her of the old days in Konoha. Only back there, most of the time it was like she didn't exist at all.

She was travelling as a boy again. At the farm, she'd figured out that she was more likely to get work if she was thought of as a boy. She didn't quite understand why that was, though. It was weird.

Now that she thought about it, maybe telling everyone that she was a girl would get her more attention? Well, she could save that for later. It had only been a day after all. A lonely and sad day, but there was always tomorrow.

Gnawing on a bread roll she'd been given, she contemplated all this.

"Oi," a smooth voice said from directly behind her. "You shouldn't be out here alone, gaki!"

She gave a startled yell and dropped her bread, jumped up and whirled around. Before her stood a young man wearing armor and a sword. "You bastard!" she yelled and pointed at him. He laughed and raised his hands.

"Ahahaha, easy there, brat! It's just, there's a lot of bandits around this route, and my friends and me, we've been hired to protect the caravan. We're mercenaries!" he explained, still laughing. "Really, if you aren't careful, the bandits might come to take you away!"

"Bandits?" Naruto squeaked. Then she quickly shook her head. "I'm not scared, dattebayo!" she declared loudly.

The mercenary nodded seriously. "Not even of Twelve-Finger Ken?" he asked. "He was born with twelve fingers, and he _loves_ to choke his victims to death…"

Naruto swallowed. "Not scared," she repeated.

"And then there's the Black Snake. They say he likes to steal little girls and boys…" the man chuckled. "And if they are ever seen again, they're _different_. I bet he'd just _love_ to take you! You're so adorable, ahahaha!"

Naruto glared at him. She didn't like him, and his laugh was creepy.

"And then there's _him…_ " he dropped his voice. "No one knows his name. People just call him the Ghost…"

"Ghost?!" Naruto squeaked, paling.

The man smirked triumphantly. "Oh, yes. No one knows where he comes from. He's deathly pale, like a corpse." Naruto shuddered and made a small noise of distress. "And when you notice him, it's already too late…"

"What? Too late for what?" Naruto blubbered, her eyes wide with fear. Back at the orphanage, the older kids had always told the younger ones scary ghost stories. The younger kids had all ended up huddling together and sharing beds.

Except for Naruto. No one had wanted to huddle with her, so she had to spend those nights alone and terrified.

"No one knows…" the man murmured mysteriously. "He only attacks people when they're alone. But there are reports of their companions hearing them scream 'Ghost! Ghost!', but when help comes…" Naruto held her breath. "They're gone!" he suddenly yelled, making Naruto jump back with a scream, stumble and fall on her rear. "Vanished into thin air! No one's ever even found a corpse!"

"I don't wanna be taken!" Naruto cried. "I don't like ghosts!"

The mercenary smirked. "Ahahaha, he only attacks when people are on their own. Tell you what, stick with me and my friends, and you'll be safe! We're all good fighters! All you gotta do is do is work for us a little, alright?"

Naruto nodded frantically. "I don't wanna be taken!" she wailed.

"Ahahaha!" the mercenary laughed. "Don't worry, we're gonna protect you!"

Naruto was led to a group of five men, all of them armed and wearing armor. "Gaki, these guys are my friends," the one who'd led her there told her. "I'm Isao, these are Jun and Ken, the stupid-looking one is Taro, the one with the long hair is Yuu."

Naruto tried to look like she'd memorised all those names when the only name that stuck with her was Isao. She really hoped they'd tell her their names again later on, otherwise she'd look stupid and they'd leave her to be found by the Ghost. And she didn't want that, ever.

The mercenaries stared at her. She really didn't like their eyes. They reminded her of the stares back in Konoha, they were just as cold.

"The little brat here is scared of the Ghost!" Isao declared. "Ahaha, but we're going to protect him, right? He said he'd work for us, even."

"Yeah, sure!" the stupid-looking one – Taku? Tano? – said. "Who cares that no one who ever went after the Ghost ever came back?"

Naruto shuddered, and the men exchanged grins.

"Big words! Wasn't your friend taken?" the long-haired one asked.

"Only heard him scream," the other confirmed. "Found tracks of blood, as if he'd been dragged away. And…" he lowered his voice ominously. "I followed them for miles, until," he cast a glance at the shaking Naruto. "Until they just disappeared!"

"Disappeared?" Naruto asked shakily.

"Into thin air! One moment there, then gone! Spirited away, I tell you!" Naruto gave a small noise of distress, by now pale as a sheet.

"B-but, he won't attack when other people are around, right?" Naruto asked. The men exchanged grim looks. "Right?" she asked again.

"Well, there have been rumors… but nothing was ever confirmed…" one of them said. Naruto's entire attention was fixed on him, so she didn't see the malicious smirks exchanged between the other mercenaries. "But don't concern yourself with that! No group this big has ever disappeared, I'm sure!"

That did nothing to soothe Naruto's fears.

"Go get us some sake from Akio's wagon," Isao suddenly ordered. "You wouldn't want us to be too… dispirited to protect you, right?"

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

That set the tone for the following days. The mercenaries ordered her around and when she was reluctant in following their orders, they'd tell more ghost stories and she'd cave. Naruto wasn't stupid, she knew they were using her, but as long as she kept her end of the deal they'd protect her, and that was worth putting up with the treatment. Still, it was galling.

Want something to drink? Get the brat to fetch something.

Hungry? Brat, fork over your meal.

Clothes got ripped? Fix it, brat.

They'd never even asked her for her name. Then again, she'd never bothered to remember theirs, either. She was expected to perform, not to speak. If she did, they would most likely make fun of her, so after a while she just stayed silent and observed them. And one night, after another scary story, she took to slipping her throwing knives into her boots and pockets, where she'd reach them easily without it being obvious that she carried them.

If the mercenaries found out about her weapons, they'd surely take them from her. She couldn't train around them either, and with the Ghost around (though at this point she suspected that he was made up just to scare her) she was too scared of sneaking off and finding a secluded spot to train.

It was a sad state of affairs, and Naruto would be very happy to reach the city in River Country. What was its name again? She'd forgotten.

Oh well. As long as there were ramen, she didn't care. And nice people, she wanted to meet nice people. Maybe she could join another circus, though it would be weird without Tadao. Wait, his name was Darui! Gah, she'd never get that into her head!

"Yo, brat!" One of the mercenaries who Naruto silently called Big-Nose interrupted her thoughts while they walked near one of the wagons. Naruto inwardly scowled, she'd been trying to avoid the mercenaries, but since the six of them usually split up to patrol the trek, it wasn't easy. "I'm hungry. Get me some dango!"

"I've got no money," she replied tartly.

"Don't get smart with me!" Big-Nose yelled. "I ain't giving some brat money! Who knows what you'd do with it!" He suddenly grabbed Naruto by her throat and lifted her off the ground. She gasped in surprise. "I want dango, and you're going to get it for me! Don't care how you're going to get it, but if you don't," he grinned maliciously. "You know who'll come for you!"

He let Naruto drop to the ground where she coughed and gagged. After a minute, she felt okay again, though, so she got off the ground.

"Get going, brat!" Big-Nose growled at her and then turned away.

"No!" Naruto said loudly. "I won't steal, dattebayo!"

He whirled around to her. "What was that, brat?" he hissed.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I won't steal! You're a bully and I don't like you, and I bet you only made the Ghost up!"

Big-Nose took a step towards her, towering menacingly over her small form. Naruto gulped, but she didn't move an inch. If she ran this time, she'd run away the next time, too. She'd spend her whole life running away! No way did she want that!

The mercenary moved to grab her again but this time she was ready. Like Tadao – Darui, dammit! – had shown her, she ducked under his arm. Then her own hand snapped forward and grabbed one of his beefy fingers and pulled.

"Auugh!" The man yelled and dropped to his knees. He tried hitting her with his free hand, but Naruto twisted his finger and he was forced to abort the attack.

"I said I won't steal, dattebayo!" she yelled. "And I don't want some bullies' protection anyways!"

"Let go!" Big-Nose yelled. "You're gonna break my finger, you little shit! Dammit, wait till I get my hands on you!"

"Catch me first!" Naruto challenged. "I'm not scared of you!"

And then she kicked him between the legs, turned tail, and disappeared between the wagons.

A merchant sitting on one of the carts frowned at her. "These men were hired to protect us. You shouldn't antagonize them, boy."

Naruto glared at him. This guy had _seen_ everything and hadn't helped her! It was so unfair! "You're stupid, hiring bullies! And he wanted me to steal!"

"One dango stick wouldn't have been so hard, wouldn't it?" The man said dismissively. "You're placing us all in danger. Go apologise!"

"I bet it'd be different if you were the guy the dango belonged to!" Naruto snapped back. "You're just as bad, dattebayo!"

"Now, see here," the man raised his voice. "This route has been reported to be infested with bandits. I will not be compromising my safety for some street rat!" he said in a disgusted tone. "We have already crossed into River Country-"

Had they? Huh. Naruto hadn't noticed. Where were the rivers?

"-And everybody knows that traveling isn't as safe here as it is in Fire Country! On top of that, Konohagakure couldn't spare any ninjas as protection, when we're some of the most important merchants in the west of Fire Country! Apparently, _something_ has all their ninjas busy!"

Naruto didn't understand half of the stuff the man spouted, but she got the gist. Basically, he was a stupid bastard who thought he was better than anybody else. Well, she would _not_ listen to it any longer!

While bastard-merchant ranted on, she slipped away again. He didn't even notice in his ire. By now, he was complaining about the hot weather and the _atrocious_ travel conditions.

What did 'atrocious' mean? Naruto wished Bunko were here to explain. Then, with a pang, she remembered that _she_ had been the one who left. Man, she was so stupid. Bunko-Baa and Old Man Hiro had even _wanted_ her to stay.

She kicked at a small pebblestone. It flew against a tree and from there clinked against some guy's forehead-protector.

Wait, what? She threw herself under a cart without thinking, just when all hell broke loose. There were screams. Explosions. Animals braying. Naruto hid her head under her arms and squeezed her eyes shut, all her previous bravado deserting her. She didn't know what was going on and she just wanted it to stop.

 **Run.**

But she _had_ to get away. There was something hot rising in her, and she could suddenly smell so much more, and there was a hissing sound…

Naruto flung herself out from under the cart, out in the open. Behind her, the cart exploded and she was thrown to the ground, ears ringing. Disoriented, she got to her feet again and stumbled towards the nearby forest, but under her feet, the ground suddenly blubbered and she sank, and the more she struggled, the deeper she was sucked in. She looked around wildly, maybe there was a branch she could use to pull herself out. But there was nothing.

Another cart blew up. There were ninjas flashing around, dragging people from the carts and tying them up. There was Isao the mercenary leader, running away while the selfish bastard-merchant from before cried for help before he was knocked out. The ninjas were different from what she knew, they didn't have the swirly thing on their forehead-protectors, there were just four straight lines. Did that mean something?

Naruto could only stare, unable to process what was happening. Blood spilled, screams sounded, metal shrieked, and she didn't know what it all meant, because surely, this couldn't really be happening, could it? It was all just a bad dream, any moment she'd wake up. Detached, she watched the moving shapes, stuck in a swamp. Something smelled weird, it came from the mud she was stuck in, and slowly, the moving people became blurred shapes and blobs of colour, and then even the colour faded and her eyes fell shut.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

 **Wake up.**

Something yanked hard at the edges of Naruto's mind and filled her with heat. She struggled against the murky depths of _something_ trying to keep her under. It felt like she was being kept underwater, but she struggled and fought to get to the surface, and suddenly her eyes were open and she was gasping for breath.

What happened? Where was she? Who were all those sleeping people around her?

"Oi, that one's awake!" a man yelled, and rough hands grabbed her and pulled her to her feet. She tried to turn to look, but a stinging pain in her head made her hunch over, clutching her head.

"That soon? Must not have gotten a full dose," another harsh voice said. "Whatever. Get this one to the others. They're sending the next shift down soon."

She was grabbed and dragged after whoever had talked first. She tried digging her feet in, but she felt nauseous like she was going to be sick, except she didn't think there was anything still in her stomach. Her efforts of resisting were in vain.

"Wha's goen on," she slurred. "Hurs."

"Shut up," the man dragging her snarled and shook her roughly. Then he got fed up with the slow pace, grabbed her harder, and lugged her behind him regardless of the fact that Naruto could barely move her feet.

Naruto was dragged into a room that was way too warm. There was a large man with a really big moustache there, sitting behind a desk. He glared down at her, causing her to shrink away.

She thought she knew cold glares. But this man's was… it was like she was nothing in his eyes, not even a person, and it scared her.

"This one woke up early. Thought we could send him down with the next shift," the man who had dragged her said coldly. Scary-Moustache-Guy studied her.

"Arm," he snarled. Naruto stared at him, uncomprehending. The other man grabbed her right arm roughly and yanked her over to Scary-Moustache-Guy. He pulled back her sleeve and bared her wrist to the Moustache-Guy. She tried to pull her arm back, but Not-Moustache-Guy squeezed her arms so hard she cried out.

Moustache-Guy pulled something out of his desk, she couldn't see what it was, but a moment later it was pressed against her wrist and a cold stinging pain shot through her arm. She yelled in pain, but a hard slap to the face shut her up immediately. In shock, she stared up at the man who had dragged her around and slapped her. He grabbed her wrist and held it before her face. There was something on it – a black symbol of four straight lines next to each other, the same as the symbol on the the forehead-protectors of the ninjas who attacked the caravan.

"See that?" the man said. "That's the symbol of the Rain. From now on you're our property, just like everybody else here. You're going to do as you're told, and maybe we'll let you go when you're no longer needed. Now come on." He grabbed her again.

Naruto was still staring in shock at the symbol on her wrist, the _brand_. They had _burned_ a mark of _ownership_ onto her very skin!

"No!" she yelled, struggling against his grip. "I don't want to! Let me go!"

She was backhanded and fell to the ground. "If you're going to be too much trouble, we'll get rid of you," she was told, then picked up again. This time, she didn't struggle, in too much shock.

This couldn't be happening. _This couldn't be happening!_

She was dragged before another man, just as large and cruel looking as Moustache-Guy.

"This one's ready to work," her captor said.

Naruto was studied like an animal at a sale. The perusal of the other man made her skin crawl.

"Small 'n thin," the man said. "Put 'im with the crawlers." He gestured toward a group of about ten dirty small people being guarded by another man, this one armed with multiple knives. Naruto was lugged and left there with them. The others were all children, she couldn't tell their age under all the dirt. They stood hunched over, and none would meet her gaze.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

They were led outside. It was raining and above them loomed a large black mountain. Naruto's group was herded into a dark cave in the mountain. Someone pressed a stick with a pointy piece of metal into her hands and an ill-fitting helmet on her head, then all of them were shoved into a large wooden box hanging above a gaping black hole in the ground, and down they went.

Down, down, down. There was no light for the longest time, and no one spoke. They went down for what felt like miles and miles, and the longer it went, the more trapped Naruto felt. She'd never been underground before, and she hated it with every fibre of her being. It felt like the whole mountain was being piled on her shoulders, stone by stone by stone.

Suddenly, there was dim light and the box hit the ground with a clank that had all of the occupants lose their balance, but none stayed on the ground long. Hands reached in and pulled them out. Then they were being herded into a large hall. There were metal tracks on the ground and metal carts filled with black stones rolling on them. People were shovelling stones from one cart onto other carts or into sacks, others were pushing the carts who knows where to, and another group seemed to be busy pulling on complicatedly tied ropes which served to pull filled carts and sacks up and out of view. And then there were armed men who just stood there observing everything without lifting a finger to help.

The lighting was bad and the air full of dust which clotted her nose badly, but Naruto could still smell the sheer _misery_ in this place and she wanted _out_. But there was no way, even she could see that.

Her group was led miles along the large cave-tunnel until they reached a smaller tunnel. They were herded through it until it reached a dead end with a hole in the ground. A ladder peeked out of it. Another hole seemed to have a sort of pulley system.

"Down," their guard ordered, handing out some sort of glow-in-the-dark-sticks that the others stuck to their helmets. Naruto quickly mimicked the action.

She stared at the hole in the ground in horror as the first of their group disappeared into it. It was way too narrow and small. And yet, when it was her turn, she climbed down without protest, too scared of the consequences. It was like all the fight had been sapped from her the deeper they had been forced to go.

She found herself in another tunnel, this one so narrow and low she could stand just upright.

"What now?" she asked.

"Work," someone, somewhere answered with a hoarse voice, shortly followed by a cough.

The others of her group all pulled the stick-thing they were given out and started hitting at the tunnel wall with the metal piece attached to it. Black stone splintered and filled the air with fine dust.

"Get working," someone ordered.

Feeling helpless, Naruto lifted the tool she had been given and started hitting at the wall.

She needed to get out of here. There had to be a way. This would _not_ be the end.

Naruto wasn't like all the other broken prisoners here. They might have branded her, but they did not own her. She wasn't helpless.

There were still knives hidden in her boots and she knew how to use them. When she had enough room, she could jump and leap up to fifteen meters high. She was Haru the Human Cannonball, acrobat and knife thrower.

She would not give up.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

A/N: I'm sorry it me took so long to update. But Real Life got in the way and Growing Strong takes priority.

Anyways, you've probably noticed that with this chapter, the story took a turn for the darker. The two after that won't be that nice, either. The reason for that is that Naruto needs to realise that the world isn't all sunshine and adventure, there are corners of it that are _dark,_ and she doesn't have any protection because _she left Konoha._

Canon Naruto needed a wake-up call too, which he got in the form of Haku dying right after he'd given Naruto advice that would later be one of his most important character traits. So this arc of the story will serve as this story's Naruto's character defining bit. It'll take about three to four chapters and after that, we'll see some canon characters again. (Hint: It involves hot springs.)

Thank you for your continued support!


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